Make · Ages 3 to 5
Crafts for preschoolers
Paper plates, handprints, first scissors and letter crafts. Short enough to finish before snack time.
97 projects · 73 beginner · 24 intermediate · 0 advanced
Paper bag scarecrow puppet
A lunch bag puppet with yellow paper straw hair and a patchy hat, ready for a fall puppet show.
Valentine heart suncatcher
Pink and red tissue paper pressed inside a big paper heart frame that glows on a sunny window.
Homemade cloud dough
A 2-ingredient soft, crumbly, moldable sensory dough that feels like powdery snow and packs like wet sand.
Nature walk bracelet
A loop of tape sticky side out becomes a bracelet your child fills with petals, leaves and seeds on a walk.
Color mixing squish bag
2 paint colors sealed in a zip bag that your child squishes together to discover a third, with zero mess.
Paper plate spider
A fuzzy black paper plate spider with 8 bendy legs that dangles from a string for Halloween.
Footprint ghosts
White paint on tiny feet makes a row of friendly ghosts, with toes for the bottom of each sheet.
Toilet roll bats
Empty cardboard tubes turn into little hanging bats with scalloped paper wings.
Tissue paper jack o lantern
Orange tissue squares on sticky paper make a glowing pumpkin face for the window.
Puffy paint pumpkins
Homemade puffy paint from shaving cream and glue dries into a squishy, raised pumpkin you can't stop touching.
Handprint turkey
A rainbow handprint becomes a puffed-up turkey, the classic Thanksgiving keepsake for the fridge.
Thankful tree
A paper tree on the wall where everyone adds a leaf with something they're thankful for, all November long.
Thanksgiving collage placemat
A wipeable placemat your preschooler designs for their own seat at the Thanksgiving table.
Salt dough handprint ornament
A baked salt dough ornament with your child's handprint pressed in, the gift grandparents keep for decades.
Paper chain Christmas countdown
A red and green paper chain with 1 loop per day, so your preschooler can tear one off each morning until Christmas.
Gingerbread play dough
A soft, warm-smelling homemade play dough that's perfect for rolling and cutting gingerbread people.
Handprint Christmas wreath
Cut-out green paper handprints arranged in a circle make a wreath that holds the whole family's hands.
Egg carton caterpillar
A painted strip of egg carton cups becomes a wiggly caterpillar with pipe cleaner antennae.
Paper windsock
A rolled paper windsock with long ribbon tails that dance in the spring breeze on the porch.
Bird nest collage
Twigs, grass and shredded paper become a cozy bird nest on paper, with thumbprint eggs tucked inside.
Paper plate pumpkin
A fat orange pumpkin with a curly green vine that your preschooler paints, tears and glues all by themselves.
Handprint fall tree
Your child's hand and arm become the tree trunk, and fingertip dots in red, orange and yellow become the leaves.
Pine cone owls
A pine cone from the yard turns into a sleepy little owl with felt wings and big round eyes.
Coffee filter fall leaves
Color coffee filters with markers, spray them with water and watch the colors melt together into glowing fall leaves.
Sticky leaf suncatcher
Press real leaves and flower petals onto clear sticky paper for a window decoration that glows in the afternoon sun.
Coffee filter butterflies
Marker-colored coffee filters bloom into tie-dye wings, pinched in the middle with a pipe cleaner body.
Cupcake liner flowers
Colorful cupcake liners turn into a garden of 3D flowers with paper stems and button centers.
Cardboard tube flower stamps
Snip a paper tube into petals, fan them out, and stamp a whole field of spring flowers.
Paper plate snowman
2 paper plates stacked into a chubby snowman with a paper hat, a cozy scarf and button eyes.
Craft stick snowflakes
Glue craft sticks into a star, paint them white and add sparkles for a snowflake that hangs on the tree or window.
Cut paper snowflakes
Fold a coffee filter, snip little shapes, and unfold a lacy snowflake that's different every time.
Toilet roll penguin
An empty paper tube turns into a waddly little penguin with flippers, feet and a tiny orange beak.
Paper plate bunny
A fluffy white bunny face with tall pink ears, cotton ball cheeks and pipe cleaner whiskers.
Shaving cream marbled eggs
Swirl paint into shaving cream, press a paper egg on top, and scrape off to reveal a marbled Easter egg.
Hatching chick card
A paper egg that cracks open on a paper fastener hinge to reveal a fluffy yellow chick inside.
Torn paper acorns
Tear brown paper into tiny pieces and fill in a big acorn shape, a fall picture that quietly builds hand strength.
Paper plate jellyfish
A painted half plate with ribbon and crepe paper tentacles that float and wave when you carry it.
Homemade sidewalk chalk paint
A 3-ingredient paint made from cornstarch and water that turns the driveway into a giant summer canvas and rinses off with a hose.
Paper haircut cutting practice
Draw silly faces with long paper hair and let your preschooler give everyone a haircut with child-safe scissors.
Tissue box Valentine mailbox
An empty tissue box dressed in paper hearts becomes the mailbox for every class Valentine.
Paper plate monster mask
A silly, not-too-scary monster mask with paper horns, wild hair and as many eyes as your kid wants.
Indoor sock snowball fight
Rolled-up white socks become soft snowballs for throwing, catching and target games on a cold day inside.
Painter's tape balance path
A tape path of straight lines, zigzags and spirals across the floor for walking, hopping and tiptoeing indoors.
Animal walk dice
A homemade cardboard die with animal pictures that tells your child to hop like a frog or stomp like an elephant.
Name puzzle
A colorful cardboard puzzle where each piece is one letter of your child's name, so they learn to spell it by putting it back together.
Play dough letters
Roll play dough snakes and bend them into the letters of your child's name on homemade paper mats.
Alphabet collage letters
A giant bubble letter filled with magazine pictures of things that start with that letter's sound.
Cardboard box tunnel
Big boxes taped end to end become a crawl-through tunnel with peek-a-boo windows for an indoor obstacle course.
Crayon leaf rubbings
Hide fallen leaves under paper and rub with a crayon to watch every vein and edge appear like magic.
Bubble wrap corn
Paint bubble wrap and press it on paper to print bumpy rows of corn kernels for a fall harvest picture.
Tape resist Christmas tree
Paint over a painter's tape tree, peel the tape away, and a crisp white tree appears in the middle of the color.
Cotton swab snowflakes
Arrange cotton swabs into star patterns on dark paper for snowflakes that build counting and pattern skills.
Potato stamp gift wrap
Carved potato stamps turn plain brown paper into one-of-a-kind wrapping paper made by your preschooler.
Fork painted hedgehog
A plastic fork dragged through brown paint makes the spikiest, cutest hedgehog you've ever seen.
Fizzing pumpkin volcano
Baking soda and vinegar bubble out of a small pumpkin's mouth for a Halloween science show that never gets old.
Frozen toy rescue
Freeze small toys in a block of ice and let your preschooler free them with warm water, salt and droppers.
Cotton ball polar bear
A soft, fluffy polar bear made by gluing cotton balls inside a bear outline on blue paper.
Bean in a jar
A dry bean in a clear jar with wet paper towel sprouts roots and a stem your child can watch grow day by day.
Ladybug painted rocks
Smooth rocks painted red with black spots become ladybugs for the garden or a paperweight gift.
Handprint flower Mother's Day card
Handprints become tulip flowers on a folded card your preschooler signs for Mom, Grandma or anyone they love.
Fingerprint bookmark
A sturdy bookmark covered in fingerprint bugs and flowers, laminated with tape and finished with a ribbon tassel.
Construction paper sun prints
Lay objects on dark paper in the sun and come back hours later to find their shadows printed on the page.
Paper plate lion
A roaring paper plate lion with a snipped paper mane your child fluffs up with their fingers.
Oobleck
Cornstarch and water make a goo that's solid when you squeeze it and drips like liquid when you let go.
Sink or float tub
A tub of water and a basket of household objects for guessing, testing and sorting what sinks and what floats.
Walking water rainbow
Colored water climbs up paper towels between cups and mixes into new colors over a few hours.
Shadow tracing
Line up toy animals in the sun and trace their shadows with chalk, then come back later to see how the shadows moved.
Clothespin dragonflies
A painted clothespin with sparkly pipe cleaner wings that clips onto backpacks, curtains and plant pots.
Thumbprint flower pot
A terracotta pot covered in thumbprint flowers, filled with a real plant, for a Mother's Day gift Mom can keep growing.
Pipe cleaner friendship bracelet
Pony beads on a pipe cleaner make a quick, sturdy bracelet your preschooler can give to a friend.
Handprint reindeer
A brown handprint turned upside down becomes a reindeer with finger antlers and a shiny red nose.
Paper cone Christmas tree
A standing green cone tree your preschooler decorates with stickers, a paper star and pom pom ornaments.
Mitten lacing card
A cardboard mitten with holes around the edge that your child laces with yarn, over and over.
Toilet roll heart stamps
Bend a cardboard tube into a heart and stamp pink and red hearts all over a Valentine card.
Pom pom tong transfer
Kitchen tongs, a muffin tin and a bowl of pom poms make a sorting game that builds hand strength for writing.
Apple stamp painting
Cut apples become paint stamps that leave a perfect apple print, star and all, for a back-to-school picture.
Paper plate self portrait
Your preschooler looks in a mirror and makes their own face on a paper plate, yarn hair and all.
Symmetry butterfly painting
Paint blobs on half a paper butterfly, fold it shut, and open it to find matching wings on both sides.
Pasta threading necklace
Dyed pasta tubes threaded onto yarn make a colorful necklace and a great threading workout for small fingers.
Tape line peel
Stripes of painter's tape on a table become a quiet peeling challenge that builds finger strength.
Shape collage fire truck
Red rectangles, black circles and a paper ladder become a fire truck, plus shape-name practice along the way.
Yarn spider web plate
Lace yarn back and forth through holes in a paper plate to weave a spider web, then add a little spider friend.
Paper heart animals
Cut hearts in different sizes and turn them into a ladybug, a mouse, a fox and whatever else your child dreams up.
Painting with pasta
Cooked spaghetti dipped in paint becomes a wiggly, slippery paintbrush that makes squiggles no brush can.
Ball rolling box painting
Paint-dipped balls roll around a box lid to make wild tracks of color, process art that's all about the doing.
Turkey feather counting game
A paper plate turkey with numbered clothespin feathers that your preschooler counts, clips and matches.
Counting caterpillar
A paper caterpillar made of numbered circles that your child puts in order and fills with the right number of dot stickers.
Paper plate rainbow
Half a paper plate painted in rainbow stripes with cotton ball clouds and paper streamers for rain.
Raised salt name painting
Write your child's name in glue, cover it with salt, and drip watercolor on top to watch the color race along the letters.
Salt watercolor snow painting
Sprinkle salt on wet blue watercolor and watch frosty snowflake patterns bloom across the paper.
Fizzy heart painting
Paint hearts with baking soda paint, then drip colored vinegar on top and watch them fizz and bubble.
Woven berry basket
A plastic berry basket woven with ribbon and paper strips becomes a little Easter basket for egg hunts.
Hole punch confetti art
Your child punches a pile of paper dots, then glues them into a sparkly mosaic picture.
Group paper mural
A long roll of paper on the floor or wall where a group of preschoolers paint together on one big picture.
Standing paper animals
Fold a card, draw an animal along the fold, and cut it out so it stands up on 4 legs for a tabletop zoo.
Ice cube painting
Frozen paint cubes on craft sticks melt into swirly color as your child slides them across paper on a hot day.
Painting with water
A bucket of water and a big brush let your child paint the fence, the steps and the sidewalk, then watch it all disappear.
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